Accomplice in Theft from State Kidney Disease Program Pleads Guilty
Husband of Former State Employee Helped Steal from
State-Funded Health Program

BALTIMORE, MD ( May 20, 2010) -Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Wilson Allen Lam, Jr., husband of convicted former state employee, Donna M. Lam, pled guilty to felony theft charges and admitted to knowingly assisting his wife in theft of $609,087 from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (DHMH) Kidney Disease Program (KDP). Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Pamela J. White sentenced Lam to 10 years incarceration with all but 18 months suspended and to be served in home detention. Judge White also ordered five years of supervised probation and restitution totaling $609,087.

Donna Lam was employed by DHMH for 13 years before she moved into the position of claims processor for the agency’s KDP. The KDP is a state-funded program that assists Maryland residents struggling to pay the extraordinary medical bills associated with end-stage kidney disease. Beginning in May 1997, Donna Lam added 14 fictitious providers to the KDP computer system and filed a total of 917 fake claims for payment. Lam and her husband, Wilson Allen Lam, opened numerous bank accounts and post office boxes throughout Maryland to collect the State checks that were subsequently issued. The Lams spent the stolen money on real estate, home improvements, motor vehicles, jewelry, and gifts to family members.

In February 2009, Donna Lam was convicted of felony theft scheme and was sentenced to five years incarceration and ordered to pay over $1,500,000 in restitution.

The Attorney General’s investigation was a joint effort between his office’s Criminal Division, the DHMH Office of the Inspector General, and the Maryland State Police. The Office of Attorney General is concluding civil proceedings against Donna and Wilson Lam in the Circuit Court of Baltimore County to recover the stolen funds.